Ghana Airways ,we miss you

January 1,2008
By Kofi Akordor
We have heard a lot about refugees. We have seen images of refugees whether in Darfur region of The Sudan, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda or Eritrea, all victims of armed conflicts.
In Ghana, the civil war in Liberia brought us very close to the refugee menace when thousands of Liberians came here to seek refuge. A new township called Buduburam has become a historical monument to that war. However, generally speaking, apart from scattered communal conflicts and natural havocs such as the recent floods which displaced people, we have been spared the massive exodus of people running away from war.
At least that was the case until two weeks ago when over 2,500 Muslim brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers got stranded in Accra, while on their way to Mecca, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform this year’s Hajj. Apparently having been assured that they need not spend even extra one minute before boarding their aircraft, these pilgrims from every part of the country came to Kotoka International Airport without any preparation whatsoever in case things went wrong.
Members of the Hajj Board and the agents did not prepare any reception centre for the pilgrims in their belief that everything will be on schedule. That was where they failed and inflicted such pain on the pilgrims. The hallmark of every planning is the provision for contingencies. That was why if you are organizing an outdoor programme even at the peak of the dry season, you still need to make provision for canopies should the unexpected happens. Members of the Hajj Board had history to guide them and, therefore, had excuse for their lack of foresight.
When the aircrafts failed to land, everything went haywire and the pilgrims had nowhere to go but to seek refuge on the lawns of the Aviation Social Centre. It was a pathetic sight. Come to think of it. Adult men and women sprawled on the lawns, eating, drinking and discharging the waste material all in the open. And this is happening in the 21st Century.
Admittedly, the organisers may escape blame for the failure of the aircrafts to arrive as scheduled. They cannot, however, have cover for abandoning the pilgrims the way they did in the open like that. At least when the first signals of a possible disappointment started to show, they should have quickly organize a reception centre with the basic facilities of toilet, bath and sleeping tents for the pilgrims. That they failed to do that was an indictment on their organizational capabilities.
The last minute frantic efforts to get aircraft for the pilgrims even with presidential intervention bring to mind the collapse of Ghana Airways, the national carrier. After the intervention of President J.A. Kufuor, we were told that the aircrafts that were secured including those of Ghana International Airlines did not have landing rights at the Jeddah International Airport.
Ghana Airways, when it was in existence, was flying pilgrims to Jeddah in the past. This means if the national carrier were to be alive, it would have filled the void created by the chartered aircrafts. This is why sometimes certain institutions are there not only to serve profit motives but to undertake critical national assignments when the exigency of the occasion demands.
If we think the ordeal of the pilgrims is over, then we are in for another shock. We have been told that due to flight problems, the first batch of the pilgrims could only return home 25 days after they had completed the Hajj. Granted that the government is prepared to feed and accommodate them during that long period, what about the time spent there when they should have been back at home to be pursuing their legitimate businesses?
What will be the fate of those who might have asked permission from their employers for a limited period to undertake the pilgrimage? We surely have missed Ghana Airways at this crucial moment and the damage to the nation by its collapse is clearly visible.
The decision to investigate this year’s Hajj and apply sanctions where necessary is good. However, the probe will be better if it will go beyond this year’s Hajj and find out why the annual pilgrimage has become a period of suffering for the pilgrims.